Hey peeps! I'm going to be submitting a few tip filled anime tutorials this week. In this first one, we'll be delving into the guides on 'how to draw anime ears', step by step. I've drawn ears countless of times, from cartoon characters, to extremely detailed anime characters. This tut should give you some of the basics on how ears should be drawn, and how they take effect on characters. I've included a few tips on many styles as well as 'right/wrong' ways to draw them. Yes, the character in this picture, and the one you'll be drawing at the end is an inspiration of Ellie Goulding. I love the colors so I thought I'd create a character based off her design. So without too much hold up, let's jump in! Make sure you guys let me know how you've did, or if you've learned anything. I also take suggestions for future anime tuts, anything is welcome!

How to Draw Anime Ears, Draw Manga Ears

STEP 1.

Before we dive right in, let's examine the important anatomy of the realistic human ear. In this tutorial, I will be taking this anatomy, and simplifying it so it will be easier for you to draw. By understanding the build of this human feature, it will be easier to place the needed details. Say if you forget an important detail, but you know the names of the actual ear, you'll know exactly what the missing feature is! Note that the lobe is always the largest part of the ear with no carved shaping. It's where we pierce our ears ;)

STEP 2.

Hey guys! Let's begin this tut with a few helpful pointers on drawing ears, not just anime ears, but realistic ones too. In this tip presentation, I give you a few pointers on where to place ears and how to draw them. Remind yourself not to draw them too big or they'll seem to look disproportional with the rest of the head. Below this tip step, is something that indicates 'how to know that you've drawn ears proportional'. Note that, the tip of the ear should always be hitting the top of the eye guide, always!

STEP 3.

Generally, in anime art as well as realistic human art, ears will be as lengthy as the eye space. The smaller the eyes, the shorter length the ears will be. This varies, depending on the face structure as well. You can't have small eyes and a huge face structure with small ears. This will look strange. I advise to go look at many references on how ears are placed correctly on the human head, and the distances between the various head poses.

STEP 4.

Now, here I present the correct way of drawing an ear, as well as the incorrect way. If you're drawing a detailed character, and you have an ear drawn lacking the same amount of detail, the ear will look out of place, and ruin the drawing's unity. Again, look at the many references of ears as much as possible, to ensure a permanent burn in your brain's memory :) The average ear will look like what you see, opposed to the sloppy and strange one.

STEP 5.

As you draw various position of heads, you'll come to find out that there's just so many ways you've got to draw the ears along with them. Avoiding from drawing something difficult, isn't going to make your better. By practicing and referencing, you'll eventually get the hang of it. Take your time analyzing the ways they're formed. Again, here's a few ways that ears can be drawn. From left to right, we have the front, back, and 3/4 view.

STEP 6.

Now, using what we've learned from above, here's a few styles and forms that ears can be stylized in. I've included a few fantasy forms here, as well as simplified versions. Remember, if you're going to draw simplified ears, make sure the character is drawn in a simple style as well. An example to understand this, is by looking at an anime character like Ichigo from Bleach and a regular chibi.

STEP 7.

The next two steps will be guiding you with practice steps on drawing ears from 3 views; the side, 3/4 and back view. Let's start off by drawing the outer shape. Remember, use thin lines for inner details and thick lines for the outlining shapes. This will create a sense of variety and balance within the line art. Go ahead and draw the rest of the ear with the remaining two steps.

STEP 8.

Here's a little step sheet that will guide you on drawing the back and 3/4 view of the ears. Take your time, and try drawing these until you get bored or you've got the hang of it. The back view will only show a flat view of the lobe, with inner lines that shape the outline of the connecting membrane and lobe. You will not see any details indicating the features of the actual ear. The 3/4 view will have a restrictive amount of visible inside detailing opposed to the back view. Keep practicing these until you've improved.

STEP 9.

Now, let's preform a little practice drawing, shall we? Besides, what's a fun tut without a cool stylish girl to draw? Everyone loves to draw anime girls anyways ;) So, let's begin by sketching the basic guidelines that will be undermined with the most important forms. Know that, having a solid foundation will cause way more success than having an unsure and sloppy foundation. Take your time with the guides. Though they don't have to be perfect, the foundation of the facial build does.

STEP 10.

Then, keeping in line with the guides, let's draw the beginning of the female profile face. Take your time, this part is important because it's the lines that will support the rest of the drawing proportionately. The nose should be stubby, with the lips subtly drawn. We're going for a cutesy look for this character, so subtle features will work best!

STEP 11.

Next, draw the hair, as well as the ear. Using our knowledge learned previously, we'll start working our magic! This should be easier for you to draw now that you understand how ears should be formed. Take your time, and make sure the hair is a few centimeters away from the guideline, which basically represents the scalp/skull.

STEP 12.

Then, proceed onto drawing the large over sized eye, and the inner detailing for the ear. Use very thin lines for the lip definition as well as the brow.

STEP 13.

Almost near completion! Let's work on the back of the head, and the fluffed collar. She's in a snowy scene, so warm clothes is needed. If you don't want to draw her in a snowscape, she could possibly be in a photo-shoot or just casual wear? The freedom is yours. Try drawing the spikes of the collar in subtle and varied directions to add interest/variety.

STEP 14.

Lastly, finish by sketching the rest of her hair and the shoulder. Originally, I drew her ruffling the front of her coat upwards to show she's trying to warm up, which pretty much explains the high set shoulder line.

STEP 15.

When all is drawn, you should have something that looks like this! I hope you guys enjoyed this tut, it was a pleasure creating it. Let me know what else you'd like to see :) Peace and love, everyone!

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